The original image came from the Tumblr page of a designer based in the UK, who was surprised that American Apparel reblogged his image.

"[T]hey don’t even know what it is," designer Danny Norris commented on his Tumblr page.

Norris told TPM that he made multiple edits of the explosion to "highlight" the disaster. He said that the caption for the image was deleted, which likely contributed to American Apparel's mistake.

"I must admit because of the way I edited the image it is hard to tell it is that explosion without the caption," he said in an email. "I wouldn't really blame American [A]pparel that much, it was an easy mistake which although insensitive was innocent I believe."